Arizona foster kids college bound thanks to nonprofit
“It’s a lot different from high school,” said Ahnjellyka Duque-Parks. “I have more of a responsibility. I have to get up by myself everyday and I decide I have to go to class.”
Ahnjellyka is in her freshman year at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.
She’s just like any other student working hard towards getting a degree.
“We’re the first generation in our family to be going to college and that’s a big accomplishment,” said Angela Duque-Parks.
Angela and Ahnjellyka are twins.
The two siblings love that they get to experience going to college together.
“She knows what I’m going through,”Ahnjellyka said. “I know what she’s going through, so we can kind of share our feelings.”
But getting a college degree wasn’t always something the girls thought was a reality.
“I did not know that you could go to a university or college on a full ride if you were in the foster care system, that was surprising,” Ahnjellyka said.
The twins entered the state’s foster care system back in 2007 after being removed from an abusive home.
The foster family that took Ahnjellyka and Angela ended up adopting them three years later.
“I felt our parents, David & Sherry, they really engaged us,” Angela said. “We weren’t very studious [before], just whatever, but they instilled in us that education is knowledge and the driving force behind everything.”
The twins were able to go to college thanks to the John S. Brewer Scholarship through Hope & A Future.
A nonprofit providing abused and neglected children in the Arizona foster care system programs to go after their dreams.
The girls have been part of the organization since they were 11-years-old.
“Hope and A Future has provided 23 scholarships over the years to Arizona foster children,” said Melissa Markus, Hope & A Future Scholarship Coordinator. “This has helped children attend the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Grand Canyon University and many other community colleges.”
Markus works with the scholarship recipients that come through Hope & A Future.
“We really like to come in and be part of the journey [and] share the excitement that they’re going on a date, if they’re struggling in classes,” Markus said. “Do we get you a tutor? How are you doing financially?”
This organization hits close to home for former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer
Her son Michael co-founded Hope & A Future 10 years ago and she is also a member of the nonprofit’s advisory board.
“I believe that every child deserves a good education and every child can have an education,” Brewer said. “If we all come together and help in some manner and when I lost my middle son to death, he was a blessing in my life.
So I established along with Hope & A Future the scholarship fund, the John S. Brewer Memorial Fund,” Brewer continued.
“We could help other children and we directed it towards foster children to entitle them, support them to achieve the dreams that maybe they couldn’t possible do without that little helping hand.”
Hope & A Future is not only providing educations for foster care children, but teaching then to be successful through its other resources from camps to a life skills program.
“To be honest, I don’t think I would be here without them,” Angela said. “They have helped us throughout the whole time we’ve been in the foster care system, even after we got adopted.”
“I can honestly say it’s proven by the number of children that go through our program and have had huge success and the fact that they want to come back and give back to the program because it inspires their lives so much shows that we’re doing something right,” Markus said.
Because a little hope can go a long way.
“Just know you can go to school, get your education and your life can start,” Ahnjellyka said. “Don’t lose faith just because you’re a foster kid.”
For more information visit azhope.org.